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As the government shutdown enters its second month, Democrats continue to dodge questions about whether their hardline stance on extending Obamacare subsidies is worth the cost of keeping federal workers unpaid and risking government benefits.

When asked by Fox News Digital if the standoff over Obamacare is worth the ongoing hardship on federal workers going weeks without pay and benefits lagging, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded sharply:

“We have to ask a Republican, because the Republicans have agreed to exactly zero negotiations. Donald Trump is out flying around the world, the Republicans here in the Senate won’t do a damn thing without Donald Trump telling them to, and the House Republicans are now on their sixth week of paid vacation,” Warren said. “So, you know, we’d like to sit down and negotiate, but we’ve got no Republicans on the other side.”

President Donald Trump embarked on a diplomatic tour to Asia this week, meeting with leaders from several countries, including South Korea, Japan, and China — nations both friendly and unfriendly to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the government shutdown drags on with no deal in sight. House Republicans have been in recess, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) indicating that the House will remain on break until the Senate agrees to the House-passed budget continuing resolution bill to reopen the government.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also placed blame squarely on Trump when asked about the ongoing impasse.

“He’s got to agree to live by the deal we come up with; thus far we’ve not been able to get him to agree,” Kaine said. “The issue that matters the most to me in opening government is getting the president to guarantee that if we open it, he won’t then tear up the deal.”

Kaine added, “We have to do a budget deal for 30 days or 45 days, whatever is done, but he has to agree that if you do that, he won’t then the next day start firing more people, canceling projects.”

Kaine gave Trump some credit for ensuring U.S. troops continued to receive pay, noting, “When the House refused to come back to take up a military pay bill, I think that’s important.” However, he also criticized the president harshly:

“Nobody should go hungry, nobody should go without pay. President Trump has billions of dollars in a contingency fund for staff that Congress put there for this moment and he is cruelly refusing to use it, and that’s all on him.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) described Trump’s stance as “as fabulously immoral as any act seen by any president ever.”

“The funding is there for November, $5.5 billion,” Merkley said. “The president has the authority to distribute those funds. But the president decided to attack the welfare of America’s children as a bargaining chip.”

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) framed the Republicans’ position as a harsh choice between two dire outcomes.

“Republicans are giving us two choices: either take health care away from millions of people or take food away from millions of people and don’t pay the troops,” Smith said. “I don’t think that’s the choice that we’re facing.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) fired back when pressed on why more Democrats haven’t supported reopening the government:

“You’re talking to the wrong Democratic senator because I voted for the continuing resolution 13 times,” Cortez Masto said. Pressed further on why more Democratic colleagues have not followed suit, she responded, “You’ve got to talk to my colleagues.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) framed the issue as one of affordability and work ethic, criticizing House Republicans for their prolonged recess:

“The Republicans in the House haven’t been to work in six weeks. So, it shows how callous and uncaring they really are. They need to reopen this government immediately.”

As the shutdown continues, pressure mounts on both sides to find a resolution that will reopen the government and ensure federal workers receive their due pay and benefits.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-dems-dodge-whether-obamacare-worth-shutting-down-government